The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,25

him again, his mental strength continued to grow. It might take days though to regain full use of his telepathy and longer than that to recover physically unless he could escape and contact his ship.

He glanced around. Whatever had led them to sound an alarm wouldn’t distract them indefinitely. He needed to find a way to free himself before they returned.

The butchers had left him strapped to the cold metal table on which they performed their sick procedures. Tight metal manacles at his wrists held his arms in place, stretched out to either side. His ankles were similarly bound a full stride apart. A strip of thick animal hide pressed into his forehead, keeping him from raising his head. More strips secured his upper arms just above the elbow.

How could he free himself from such?

His mind had cleared enough that had one of the scientists remained behind, he could’ve tricked him into releasing him. He might have even been able to trick two of them, using his unique gift to make them see what he wanted them to. But four or six at a time?

He doubted it. Not as weak as he was. And if he had tried and failed, they would’ve immediately dosed him again.

Taelon didn’t know how long he had been a prisoner in this place, but immobility and repeated injury had left him alarmingly weak. Perspiration beaded on his skin as he struggled to free one arm. If he had to dislocate his shoulder and break every bone in his damn hand to get it through the shackle, he would. This was the first opportunity for escape that had come along.

He ground his teeth as he strained against the hide strap on his left arm, trying to loosen it. His wrist began to bleed as it scraped against the metal cuff.

The door to the larger room beyond this one opened with a familiar thunk.

His gaze flew to the connecting door. No! If the group returned, they would see the blood, know he was attempting to escape, and cloud his mind with their damn drugs again.

Footsteps approached. A single pair.

Hope rose as he listened. Could it be? Only one person? Perhaps sent back to belatedly sedate him?

He curled his lip. Or another curiosity seeker, using the others’ distraction to sneak in and get a good look at the alien?

It wouldn’t be the first time. Another had snuck in… was it earlier today or the previous night? Time was meaningless here since there were neither windows nor clocks in the room to help him track it. But a male with blond hair had snuck into the observation room to gawp at the extraterrestrial creature. Taelon had used the opportunity both to seek a little vengeance and to test his slowly rekindling powers. Delving into the stranger’s thoughts had not been as easy as it was with Lisa. No, employing his telepathy with the curiosity seeker had instead sent agony slicing through Taelon’s mind, but he had managed to succeed briefly enough to uncover the gruesome visage of an alien from an entertainment film the man had seen over a dozen times. When the man had stepped up to the glass and peered down at him, Taelon had made him see not a naked, vulnerable male strapped to a table with wounds that seeped blood, but a dark, horrific, razor-toothed, slime-dripping, bipedal creature that snarled like an animal and spat acid.

All color had drained from the man’s face. Taelon had expected him to wet himself and take off running. Instead, the man’s eyes had widened until the whites were visible around the blue irises, then had filled with moisture as horror contorted his features. He had stumbled back through the door with all due haste.

Now Taelon waited.

The footsteps that drew near seemed hesitant. If it was one of the butchers coming back to sedate him, the person’s strides would be confident and quick as they hurried to complete the tasks they’d forgotten before one of their superiors noticed.

A curiosity seeker then. Perhaps even the same one wanting a closer look. Or maybe a new recruit.

Disgust rising, he prepared to repeat his revolting performance. But this time he would make the man see an unconscious monstrosity whose wrist manacles had come unfastened. When the man hastened to press the button that locked them, it would instead unlock them, and Taelon could gain his freedom.

The footsteps stopped.

The door opened.

A figure stepped into the room.

Taelon immediately projected the monstrous image in the newcomer’s